Getting on with it
by monkeyon
Summary: A spoiler for one of the existing episodes but it goes slightly off center quite early in the story. We see Kate's attitude towards Castle leads them into a situation that puts his life at risk and their relationship too.


Page **5** of **5**

Castle fan fiction

Title – "Getting on with it"

Spoiler - Set in "Overkill". What if Kate's "Let them get on with" it attitude towards Castle and Deming's jealousy comes back to haunt her. My medical skill / knowledge is very questionable so apologies in advance for inaccuracies.

Deming walks Becket of to the interview room. Shit it looks like he's won Castle thinks. Heartbroken over the jealousy he feels but also his tiredness. He'd die for this women but old age was getting the better of him. He almost wanted a conclusion to all this now. He wanted to get on with his life, even if it meant walking away and dealing with pain of rejection or revelling in a new love with his own muse.

He watches the interview take place. Not concentrating on the words spoken in the room, preferring to listen to his inner thoughts.

"Is that him?"

Castle turns to see Blake standing there peering through the glass.

"Err we are interviewing him to see what he knows." Castle tried to be diplomatic.

"Only earlier you had me as a suspect."

"Look, you both alibied out so you're safe. You and Lisa you are no longer suspects." Castle overly excitable mind goes into overdrive. He thinks it was all too simple, too tidy, too much like it should be something it's not. Running the time line through his mind he can start to put together the puzzle pieces. His mouth didn't get the chance for his brain to gage what he was about to say.

"You and Lisa!" he shouts as he turns face to face with Blake. Blake can almost see Castles trail of thought. He was caught but only by Castle. Blake goes to hit Castle but Castle ducks. Castle tries to push Blake away but Blake throws a punch in his chest and winds him. Blake has him by the neck and is pushing him up against the wall.

Beckett looks to the two way mirror. If he wasn't occupied in his brawl with Blake he was sure she'd be rolling her eyes at him. Castle soon has the upper hand. Relieved he sees Espo and Ryan come towards the room. They go to grab Blake from the floor but he's too quick. Grabbing the nearest thing, Blake swings round the fire extinguisher hitting Castle across the front of his neck. By the time the boys were sitting on Blake and cuffing him, Castle had slid down the wall to the floor.

"Castle you alright?" Ryan asks.

"Castle bro?"

Castle can't breathe, Can't swallow and can't speak. He shakes his head.

Espo pulls out his mobile "Lanie babe I need you."

"I know you do sweetie."

"Not that, its Castle there's something wrong…." Castle is falling into unconsciousness. "Lanie we're losing him. His lips they're turning blue."

Lanie was there in minutes. "What happened?"

"Blake swiped him with the fire hydrant, across the neck."

"Shit." Lanie spent time looking at Castle.

"Babe you gonna do CPR or something?"

"No point his throat I thinks it's crushed, his airways are blocked. I need to cut into his thorax." She points to her bag. "Where's Becket?"

"In the interview room with Deming."

"I think you better get her."

Ryan knocks on the door.

"Go away Castle we're busy."

"It's not Castle it's Ryan."

"Still the same answer." Deming shouts back

"Kate, its Castle he's been attacked by Blake, Lanie is operating on him now, the other side of that god dam mirror. Lanie is trying to save his life but you carry on in there with him."

Ryan walks away to go back to Lanie and Espo. She gets there to see Lanie insert a tube into a hole cut into Castles neck. Becket takes the only place left at the back of the group that had gathered around Castle.

"Castle breathe dam it." Lanie checks his pulse. A tear falls down her cheek. She looks up and sees Kate standing there. Lanie leans down and breathes into the tube and Castles chest rises and then falls. He makes no effort to do the same on his own.

Becket pushes her way through and gets to the floor where they are. "Lanie?"

Lanie tries to inflate Castles lungs again and again. Lanie looks at her as tear run down both their faces. "Kate it's too late."

"No."

"Kate he can't breathe there's no pulse, it's been ten minutes. We have to stop."

"No keep going."

"Kate his brain has been starved of oxygen he may….."

The ambulance crew are there and soon take over the care of Castles body. Properly incubating Castle and breathe for him as he is stretchered off to the ambulance.

Kate sat at his bedside, the others going to get coffee. They had warned her about the tubing. About how he looked like something out of a sci-fi show she knew Castle would like to watch. His vast body was small against the machinery keeping him alive. It was the tubing running from his neck that turned her stomach. The doctors had told her, Martha and Alexis that if he did recover there was no way of telling what damage had been done to his throat. Losing the ability to speak, it was almost cutting off the writers' hand. Castle wouldn't cope and she knew it.

It was a full week before he opened his eyes to see Kate, Martha and Alexis sitting around him with their heads resting on his bed. His hand moves to the discomfort in his neck. He starts to fall asleep before the others notice he's finally come back to them.

It's the nurse on the morning run that notices Castles blue eyes shining. She can see the tears and the worry. She hands him a small white board and in her most compassionate and quietest voice as to not wake the others tries to tell him what happened.

"The damage to your throat we hope is temporary; you've done this well Mr Castle to come back to us. We were worried about you."

Castle smiles. He can't voice his pun or the cheeky remarks but they still don't stop forming in his head. The nurse taps the pen on the board. "Care to share".

He scribbles on the board "Beckett says that all the time."

"Beckett, the detective right?"

Castle nods. He moves a hand to hers but stops short of holding it. Truth be told in his current state he's no more tired than he was before the accident. A week in the Hamptons might see him through his recovery but won't help ease his feelings elsewhere.

"Dad." Alexis shrieks and jumps up to cuddle Castle nearly knocking the nurse over. She pulls back and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop the tear from falling.

"It's going to be O.K. dad, gonna get you better."

He hopes his half smile is enough of a substitute for a yes. Soon Becket and Martha are sharing him in a hug. Martha and Alexis leaves.

"What do you want Rick, I will do anything to make it right?"

He starts to write on his board. He shows her the word Hamptons on it.

"I think that can be arranged. Anything else?"

It took all of his will not to write "You". He shook his head.

….

They discharged Castle early as they were aware that he was going away to rest. Strict instructions to do little and often. He now had a bandage across his wound which was healing. Although he could speak in a husky tone he was told to rest a few more days and then they will get a speech therapist involved.

Day three and all that could be heard was Castle shouting stop.

Alexis and Martha turned to him. He was on the deck on a sun lounger in a pair of swimming trunks and a small blanket across his lap. He wasn't even sure why it was there, it's the Hamptons and a heat wave. It was just another symbol of their faffing and it was beginning to wear him down and then when he heard them argue over the nutritious values of Thousand Island dressing and Caesar he thought his head would burst.

"Richard." Martha looks at him. He gets up and walks to them. "Alexis likes Thousand Island and you like Caesar. Make what you want I'm not hungry." he croaks.

"Dad."

"I'm going to bed." he pulls away and then soon is gone. He throws the stupid blanket at the end of the bed and lies on top of the covers. He grabs the pillow and puts it over his head to drown out the noise he knows he's making as he cries. The sobs are inhuman as his throat constricts when it shouldn't and then relaxes only momentary.

He stayed in his room for two days straight and didn't do anything apart from sip water Alexis bought him.

"Gramps what we gonna do, he's looking thin? Dads looking ill and I can't watch him give up."

"I wish I knew dear."

"Grams what do I tell her when she calls. I can't keep lying to her."

"I know sweetie but…if he finds us prying into his love life…"

"What love life grams, they hardly speak to each other these days let alone….well….at least if they were together they'd be able to kiss and make up."

"I forget your wisdom outshines us." Martha giggles. Then her smile drops as she sees him there. Alexis looks behind her.

"You meddling …."

"What dad, say it, witches, bitches or whores. Take your pick but the words don't mean a thing do they. Your friendship with Kate is so fucked up how you think it's gonna be worse if you start fucking the rage out her and her the sorrow out of you. To hell with it dad, if you want to plummet into despair you might as well do it with the queen of angst herself." With that she pushes past and walks out on a gobsmacked Martha and Castle.

Castle starts to giggle. "Richard Castle it's not dam funny."

"It is, my sweet Alexis has a dark side." His voice still croaky. "Wow she's not just smart she's sassy too, I wondered how Meredith and I ever made her I mean I know she's mine but she's never shown any of her mums traits not till now. I wondered if Meredith had conned me into thinking she given birth to my girl. Kidding myself she's a miracle child."

The phone rings and Martha face shows she's not the great actress she makes out to be. Castle walks to the phone and picks it up. "Hello Kate."

"Hey Castle should you be talking."

"I'm O.K. thank you for asking how's the weather back there?"

"Sorry, how are you today writer boy?"

"Little tired, a lot restless."

"I bet the girls are looking after you though."

"They were, might have burnt that bridge."

Martha gets a kitchen stool and places it behind Castle and points to it. He puts his bum on the seat pad and slinks back against the back rest.

"How'd you mean?"

"Have you got anywhere to be tonight?"

"No, Castle what's wrong?"

"Well you wouldn't believe what Alexis just said but all you need to know is she cuss like the rest of us and she really isn't stupid or young or in fact a very nice person sometimes."

Martha took her cue to leave her son to chat about todays and other events and went to look on the beach for Alexis.

"Grams I shouldn't have said what I said."

Martha gabs her hand "My dear your father is on the phone with Kate this very minute chatting as if there was never a moment wrong between them. Apart from his voice being a bit scratchy he's almost back to being the man we knew a month ago. I also think this might be the moment that gets them together, finally."

"Really?"

"Yes dear but let us let them get on with it."

….


End file.
